"Race is over for us bud" Melissa said as her form was humanoid once again. She breathed rapidly though, her extensive use of her devil fruit had tired her out. Though within the dome, snow still burst forth, over and over in front of her, peeling from her body over and over again, blitzing into the body of the larger elf, his sled, and of course the reindeer that piloted it. The armoured reindeer was indeed the strongest. It continued to bash the dome with ease, though its movements would surely begin to grow more sluggish. This was because the snow that danced from its summoner was far heavier, far more dense than the snow previously used. It stuck like glue to those it clung too, eventually it would seal all movements, generally this was done at a quicker pace, yet Melissa's tiredness combined with the much larger size of Tim and his steed would slow down the process.

The large elf didn't seem to bright, then again the darkness within the dome would probably hinder almost all vision. Even Melissa struggled to see, though with her attack circulating around the area, seeing wasn't the issue. The defiant large elf would let out yet another deafening roar. Reaching in to his sled for his rocket launcher once more, though this time he fired it off at where the voice of the woman had been. The resulting release of the rocket granting a momentary flash of light. Enough for Melissa to move out of the way. The rocket would crash into the back of the snow dome, forcing an opening. Though with the flurry of snow vision would still be hindered. Though those whom could see into the dome, Tim and Melissa would see for a few minutes the scene that had unfolded.

Killer Keith, the dangerous reindeer's movements had at last halted, blood stained the wall of the defiantly strong dome, the creature was not dead. No. He was simply frozen, encased within a dense cocoon of snow that hindered his movements, that gave him a silhouette of a much large, chunkier reindeer. The armor had weighed him down even more, Tim wasn't looking so great either. His entire lower half had succumbed to the snow. The very element that had been their way of manipulating this race, the very element that they had used to create the race had come against them. "None...of you...are bright" Melissa said with a smile. Sweat poured down her face, her breathing was certainly getting harsher. Yet she continued with her snow powers. Continued to burst them forth, to finish encasing the elf. Though he would strike his rocket launcher against the snow, attempting to break it off.

"I made myself a target....declaring I was going to win" The princess of Snow uttered as she knelt down, taking deep breaths. "Then....I showed off....Trapping you and the others...." pulling her hand upwards, the snow beneath would flow with her, converging into one of the very same snow lances she had used before. "What......ARE YOU" The big elf screeched, he tried hard to get rid of the snow, but it was sticking to him too fast. The more he managed to shovel away, the more that just moved to a new location. "None of you saw her......sneaking in the side......None of you cared for the one who glided by.....you focused on the trouble makers.....smart move" she said breathing deeply, The dome was regenerating now, light was being cut off. "The girl in pink was your down fall.....not the snow girl" Melissa said with a smile as she released her lance. Her snow halted, Tim encompassed, all bar his face. His screaming his cursing unbefitting an elf. The light shut off as the lance flew forth.

How many heartbeats had passed. How much sweat had fallen from her body, The dome around dissolved, glittering into small white particles that shimmered within the blizzard that rapidly danced around. The cold did not bother her, it never had. She could barely move, her body refusing to listen as she lay upon the track. Smiling against the snow as she laughed. The crowd of onlookers, the elves and even the snowmen would gasp. The dome revealed the after effect. The giant sled and reindeer that pulled it had been completely overtaken by snow. The reindeer would probably have suffocated by now within the avalanche that covered it. Big tim remained still, no weapon could be seen, yet blood now tricked down his face, a large would completely visible within his face, piercing from one end to the other. Yet he was standing, held up by the cocoon of snow that gave his statue like appearance. Colour had drained from his face. Melissa? As said, she lay upon the ground, feeling the embrace of the snow.


Darkness would take her, exhaustion finally winning this struggle.

There was another gunshot, this time hitting nothing but sled. Beaten and battered as he was, the boss elf seemed pretty motivated to eliminate Tarte from the running. Rather than fear of any sort though, the predominant emotion she was feeling was annoyance. If one were to retrace her steps from all the way back to the start of the race, not only did she not attack anyone, she also never engaged in anything that you could consider 'cheating' of any sort. And yet here she was now being singled out and attacked just because she managed to make it this far. She would complain if she could, but there was probably no reasoning with that mad elf.

Suddenly she heard growls coming from around her. The few dogs from her team who could still move limped to form a protective circle of sorts in front of where Tarte was taking cover. The boss elf took a step back, unsure if he should shoot. Considering his current condition, he couldn't run and even if the dogs were also injured and technically easier targets, there were more of them than he had bullets left. He cursed under his breath at this predicament. Tarte had to remember to seriously thank old Will later for raising such brave puppies. She was safe for now, but there was still the problem of how to finish the race.

The fire from the wreckage of the crashed balloon crackled and Tarte and the boss elf both heard something approaching fast. At first it was just a silhouette in the flames but eventually a figure burst forth, leaping over the elf's head and leaving him dumbfounded. It was the shipwright from earlier! Tarte did not know his name, but she was more than glad to see that he was okay. It seemed he had lost his sled and decided to ride his reindeer bareback to the finish line. Sections of his clothes were burned and the reindeer had some singed bits of fur but they were otherwise in healthy enough shape to keep going. The man was barely hanging on to the beast's back though.

The boss elf finally regained his wits and turned his gun at the pair, but dogs growled and surrounded him and made him hesitate again. Amidst the tenseness of the situation that seemed to stretch on for minutes, loud cheers erupted from the crowd waiting by the finish line at the peak. It looked like was over. The boss elf dropped to his knees in defeat. Tarte sighed in relief. It would have been great publicity to have won the race, but Water 7 was saved and she could not complain.

---

A day passed and the warm sunny weather had finally returned to Water 7. There were still pieces of ice left floating in the ocean but for the most part the ports and waterways were back to normal. Sitting on the porch of her family's home with a spread of tea and biscuits was a certain pink clad girl, surrounded by dogs with most of them sporting bandages. It seemed they grew rather attached to her in the short time they spent together and old Will sent them over to play. One of the dogs brought her the morning paper with a headline that read: "Local Shipwright Saves the Day!" A smaller article under the headline read: "Santa's Evil Forces Mysteriously Disappear Without a Trace!"

She grinned. It was a town effort, and the guy just happened to be the most fortunate among them. Tarte silently wished him the best of luck with his new found fame. The mayor was rather generous anyway with giving out rewards to those who made notable contributions to the race, her included. She could think of at least a couple who would be happy that their efforts got them some compensation. As for the holiday mischief makers, let's just say she wasn't too keen on having anything to do with anything Christmas-y anytime soon. She has had more than enough of her fill of excitement for this holiday home visit.